Separatist militants in southwest Pakistan on Tuesday claimed to have taken 182 hostages, including military personnel, in an attack on a train and threatened to kill them if security forces did not leave the area.
Local authorities, police, and railway officials said the train, which had about 400 passengers, was trapped in a tunnel, and the driver was badly wounded.
According to security forces, an explosion was heard near the tunnel, and they were exchanging fire with the militants in a mountainous area.
The Baloch Liberation Army, which seeks independence for Balochistan province bordering both Afghanistan and Iran, said it had killed 20 soldiers and shot down a drone—claims that Pakistani authorities have not confirmed.
The group said it had taken 182 hostages from the train, including Pakistan Army members and other security officials traveling on leave.
“Civilian passengers, particularly women, children, the elderly, and Baloch citizens, have been released safely and given a secure route,” it said in a statement emailed to journalists and posted on Telegram.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, condemned the attack and said the government would not make any concessions to “beasts that fire on innocent passengers.”
